Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“On the fourteenth day of the first month the returned exiles kept the passover.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, December 23, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Observing sacred rituals brings us closer together as a community of God. Having finally completed the temple, the center of worship life for the Jewish community in Jerusalem, the people resumed the observation of the annual celebration that most loudly proclaimed them the people of God: the Passover.
And here we are at the end of Advent, ready to celebrate Christmas tomorrow evening and the day after. And while Easter is really the greatest proclamation of our faith in Christ Jesus—we are an “Easter people”!—Christmas is also a time when our shared rituals bring us together as the Body of Christ in a statement of who we are and whose we are. God comes to us in the human person of Jesus, humbly among the animals in a stable, a weak and wholly dependent baby in a manger. Candlelight, caroling, garlands, special foods, family time—all these and more help us center ourselves in what it means to be a member of the communion of saints throughout history and around the world. May your personal, family, and community rituals draw you closer to God this Christmas.
What practices do I observe at Christmastime that help connect me to the greater Church community?
